The present invention relates to agricultural machinery and more specifically to separating housings, which contain devices for improving the processing of harvested crop and which reduce wear to the devices therein.
There are various types of agricultural harvesting machines, such as combine harvesters. Combine harvesters are available in both axial or hybrid systems. Hybrid systems have transverse threshers and axially operating separating devices. Combine harvesters are equipped with one or more rotor housings and where there are multiple rotor housings, the rotor housings are parallel to one another. The rotor housings have separating rotors and internal guide strips with perforated surfaces. The front ends of the separating rotors are fitted with conveyor screw sections for receiving material and outer casing conveyor members. The outer casing conveyor members cooperate with the guide strips to transport the harvested mixture of grain, straw and chaff between the separating rotor and housing, towards a rearward end of the separating rotor for separating the grain from the harvested mixture. The material inlet end of an axle of the separating rotors is supported in an end wall, which extends downward to a central axle of the rotor housing, thereby closing the top half of the inlet end of the rotor housing.
German Patent No. DE 24 30 304 describes an agricultural machine having an axial threshing and/or separating device, wherein the lower edge of an inlet end wall extends horizontally from one side of the cylindrical rotor housing to the other. The separating rotor is mounted in the rotor housing in such a way that the conveying flights of the conveying screw sections project up to the material inlet opening. The separating rotor""s front edges are relatively close to the inside surface of the end wall. The end-face closure of the material inlet opening of the rotor housing increases air flow speed inside the separating unit, by means of an end wall, which has a positive effect on the separation process and restricts the undisturbed intake of the harvested material. Due to the rotational movement of the separation rotor, the mixture of material is increasingly drawn in the region of the underside edge of the end wall, which is opposite the direction of rotation of the separating rotor. With an almost horizontal course for this underside edge of the end wall, the material inlet opening is restricted such that it inevitably causes problems in the flow of material and can even result in complete blockage of the delivery of material. Moreover, often the end wall and, more particularly, the opposite edge itself does not sufficiently resist extreme loads. The conveying flight sweeping past the edge of the end wall, opposite the direction of rotation of the separating rotor, causes long-stemmed plant parts, if present, to be caught by the conveying flights. At the same time, the direction of flow of the harvested material is abruptly diverted and sometimes drawn over the edge and into the conveyor housing with extreme loading peaks. As a result, deformations, or at least strains, occur on the end wall, which have a negative effect particularly on the separating rotor and its mounting members.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems or disadvantages set forth above.
It is an aspect of the present invention to provide an apparatus for overcoming one or more of the problems or disadvantages set forth above.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention there is provided a self-propelled harvester having a drivable separating rotor, rotatably mounted in a rotor housing and having a bearing in an end wall covering an inlet opening of the rotor housing at a front end of the separating rotor, further comprising a lower edge transverse and operatively connected to the bearing of the end wall.
In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the material inlet regions are enlarged to reduce jamming of material and wear in these inlet regions.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, higher throughputs are achieved by two separating rotors surrounded, at least in part, by two rotor housings. These rotor housings have two bearing operatively connected to a side wall having a lower edge.
In still another embodiment of the invention, a rotor housing is described which contains lower edges of end walls arranged at an obtuse angle relative to one another so that material inlet regions at the front ends of the separating rotors are larger than the regions shielded by the end walls to accommodate larger quantities of harvested material without problem.
In yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, a rotor housing contains lower edges of end walls that are arc-shaped to ensure that harvested material located between the lower edges of the end walls and the carrier members of the separating rotors are reliably carried out from intake gaps. Such harvested material is carried between the lower edges and the end walls, in radial directions of the separating rotor.
In another embodiment of the invention there is provided a rotor housing containing lower edges of end walls therein, wherein the lower edges are arc-shaped having curvatures extending upwardly in vertical directions to process larger quantities of harvested material without blockages of material in an intake region of the separating.
In still another aspect of the invention, there is provided a rotor housing containing lower edges of end walls therein, wherein the lower edges of the end walls are arranged such that they are offset relative to one another. Further, the lower edges of the end walls, which oppose the directions of rotation of each of the rotor housings are offset in a larger vertical direction from the horizontal relative to the lower edges of the end walls, which do not oppose the directions of travel.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, there are two rotor housings, having two separating rotors which rotate opposite one another directionally, and working elements in mirror image from one another for processing a large quantity of harvested material, efficiently delivered by threshing elements.
In yet another embodiment of the invention, rotor housings containing lower edges of end walls are profiled so that the lower edges accumulate more harvested materials to reduce wear of the lower edges of the end walls.
In still another embodiment of the invention there is provided a rotor housing containing lower edges of end walls, having high-profiles, and lubrication channels, having wear-reducing lubricants in their interior for feeding lubrication to the bearings.
In still another embodiment of the invention there is provided a rotor housing containing lower edges of end walls and stripper bars, having a curved shape and with ends pointing in the directions of rotation assigned to the end walls on the inside. The rotor housing supports the continuous movement of the harvested material from an intake region of a separating rotor for facilitating the harvested material removal process.
The above aspects are merely illustrative examples of a few of the innumerable aspects and embodiments associated with the present invention and should not be deemed an all-inclusive listing in any manner whatsoever.